1.
Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
1. Job pauses for a reply. None
being made, he proceeds to illustrate the mysteriousness of God's
dealings, as set forth () by his own case.
2.
Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
2. preserved me—from calamity.
3.
When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
4.
As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
4. youth—literally, "autumn";
the time of the ripe fruits of my prosperity. Applied to youth,
as the Orientalists began their year with autumn, the most
temperate season in the East.
secret—when the
intimate friendship of God rested on my tent (Proverbs 3:32;
Psalms 31:20; Genesis 18:17;
John 15:15). The Hebrew
often means a divan for deliberation.
5.
When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
6.
When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
6. butter—rather, "cream,"
literally, "thick milk." Wherever I turned my steps, the
richest milk and oil flowed in to me abundantly. Image from pastoral
life.
When I washed my
steps—Literal washing of the feet in milk is not meant,
as the second clause shows; Margin, "with me," that
is, "near" my path, wherever I walked (). Olives amidst rocks yield the best oil. Oil in the
East is used for food, light, anointing, and medicine.
7.
When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
7-10. The great influence Job
had over young and old, and noblemen.
through . . . street!—rather,
When I went out of my house, in the country (see , prologue) to the gate (ascending), up to the city
(which was on elevated ground), and when I prepared my (judicial)
seat in the market place. The market place was the place of
judgment, at the gate or propylæa of the city, such as is found in
the remains of Nineveh and Persepolis (Isaiah 59:14;
Psalms 55:11; Psalms 127:5).
8.
The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
8. hid—not literally; rather,
"stepped backwards," reverentially. The aged, who
were already seated, arose and remained standing (Hebrew)
until Job seated himself. Oriental manners.
9.
The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
9. (; see on Job 29:2).
Refrained talking—stopped
in the middle of their speech.
10.
The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
10. Margin, "voice—hid,"
that is, "hushed" ().
Tongue cleaved, &c.—that
is, awed by my presence, the emirs or sheiks were silent.
11.
When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
11. blessed—extolled my
virtues (Proverbs 31:28). Omit "me"
after "heard"; whoever heard of me (in general, not
in the market place, Proverbs 31:28) praised me.
gave witness—to my
honorable character. Image from a court of justice (Proverbs 31:28).
the eye—that is, "face
to face"; antithesis to
ear—that is, report of
me.
12.
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
12-17. The grounds on which Job
was praised (Job 29:11), his
helping the afflicted (Psalms 72:12)
who cried to him for help, as a judge, or as one possessed of means
of charity. Translate: "The fatherless who had none to help
him."
13.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
13. So far was I from sending
"widows" away empty ().
ready to perish— ().
14.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
14. (Isaiah 61:10;
1 Chronicles 12:18).
judgment—justice.
diadem—tiara. Rather,
"turban," "head-dress." It and the full flowing
outer mantle or "robe," are the prominent characteristics
of an Oriental grandee's or high priest's dress (1 Chronicles 12:18). So Job's righteousness especially characterized him.
15.
I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
15. Literally, "the blind"
(Deuteronomy 27:18); "lame"
(2 Samuel 9:13); figuratively, also
the spiritual support which the more enlightened gives to those less
so (Job 4:3; Hebrews 12:13;
Numbers 10:31).
16.
I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
16. So far was I from "breaking
the arms of the fatherless," as Eliphaz asserts (), I was a "father" to such.
the cause which I knew
not—rather, "of him whom I knew not," the stranger
(Proverbs 29:7 [UMBREIT];
contrast Luke 18:1, c.).
Applicable to almsgiving (Psalms 41:1)
but here primarily, judicial conscientiousness (Psalms 41:1).
17.
And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
17. Image from combating with
wild beasts (Job 4:11; Psalms 3:7).
So compassionate was Job to the oppressed, so terrible to the
oppressor!
jaws—Job broke his
power, so that he could do no more hurt, and tore from him the
spoil, which he had torn from others.
18.
Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
18. I said—in my heart ().
in—rather, "with
my nest"; as the second clause refers to long life. Instead of
my family dying before me, as now, I shall live so long as to die
with them: proverbial for long life. Job did realize his hope (). However, in the bosom of my family, gives a good
sense (Numbers 24:21; Obadiah 1:4).
Use "nest" for a secure dwelling.
sand— (Genesis 22:17;
Habakkuk 1:9). But the Septuagint
and Vulgate, and Jewish interpreters, favor the translation,
"the phoelignix bird." "Nest" in the parallel
clause supports the reference to a bird. "Sand" for
multitude, applies to men, rather than to years. The
myth was, that the phoelignix sprang from a nest of myrrh, made by
his father before death, and that he then came from Arabia (Job's
country) to Heliopolis (the city of the Sun) in Egypt, once in every
five hundred years, and there burnt his father [HERODOTUS,
2:73]. Modern research has shown that this was the Egyptian mode of
representing hieroglyphically a particular chronological era or
cycle. The death and revival every five hundred years, and the
reference to the sun, implies such a grand cycle commencing
afresh from the same point in relation to the sun from which the
previous one started. Job probably refers to this.
19.
My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
19. Literally, "opened to
the waters." Opposed to . Vigorous health.
20.
My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
20. My renown, like my bodily
health, was continually fresh.
bow—Metaphor from war,
for, my strength, which gains me "renown," was ever
renewed (Jeremiah 49:35).
21.
Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
21. Job reverts with peculiar
pleasure to his former dignity in assemblies ().
22.
After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
22. not again—did not
contradict me.
dropped—affected their
minds, as the genial rain does the soil on which it gently drops
(Amos 7:16; Deuteronomy 32:2;
Song of Solomon 4:11).
23.
And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
23. Image of continued. They waited for my salutary counsel, as the dry
soil does for the refreshing rain.
opened . . . mouth—panted
for; Oriental image (). The "early rain" is in autumn and onwards,
while the seed is being sown. The "latter rain" is in
March, and brings forward the harvest, which ripens in May or June.
Between the early and latter rains, some rain falls, but not in such
quantities as those rains. Between March and October no rain falls
(Deuteronomy 11:14; James 5:7).
24.
If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
24. When I relaxed from my
wonted gravity (a virtue much esteemed in the East) and smiled, they
could hardly credit it; and yet, notwithstanding my condescension,
they did not cast aside reverence for my gravity. But
the parallelism is better in UMBREIT'S
translation, "I smiled kindly on those who trusted not,"
that is, in times of danger I cheered those in despondency. And they
could not cast down (by their despondency) my serenity of
countenance (flowing from trust in God) (Proverbs 16:15;
Psalms 104:15). The opposite phrase
(Genesis 4:5; Genesis 4:6).
"Gravity" cannot well be meant by "light of
countenance."
25.
I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.
25. I chose out their way—that
is, I willingly went up to their assembly (from my country residence,
Job 29:7).
in the army—as a king
supreme in the midst of his army.
comforteth the mourners—Here
again Job unconsciously foreshadows Jesus Christ (Isaiah 61:2;
Isaiah 61:3). Job's afflictions, as
those of Jesus Christ, were fitting him for the office hereafter
(Isaiah 50:4; Hebrews 2:18).